Interweb Round-up - Yeehaw!

Well, the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show is just winding down, so I thought you might like a little HOWDY! in your round-up today. So, let's begin the fun!

• One of the great things about the blog world is that you have the opportunity to learn so much from the people who are online. It's amazing all of the areas of expertise that converge electronically. Recently, I wrote about how I sometimes get tired of opening junk mail to get rid of the plastic windows in envelopes, and got this response in the comments from David: "You don't need to tear the plastic window out. Take it from someone who works in a paper recycling plant" Folks, you heard it here.
• I love owls. In fact, I have a collection of owl-related bric-a-brac. That's why this is the coolest thing ever - A livecam of a barn owl sitting on her eggs. I just watched the mom, Molly, dig into a half-rat for her breakfast. Yum! But seriously, it's amazing. And yes, I realize that it is affiliated with a hunting website. That being said, hunters ("sportsmen") are often big partners is conservation. It is because they want to kill the animals, but it's a complicated relationship. Never mind. Just watch the owl.
• My recipe for pumpkin-chocolate-chip bran muffins was featured in [1Thing]PDX. One of the readers said she made them for her six-year-old and I was psyched because healthy, delicious food for kids is so important. I've been playing with this recipe, and have come up with a couple of variations: 1) instead of pumpkin, you can use two containers of organic sweet potato baby food. So Southern! 2) Substitute 3 bananas, whirled in your blender with 3/4 cups of vanilla soy milk (instead of the regular milk) for the pumpkin; 3) don't like such a whole wheat explosion? Instead of using a cup-and-a-half of whole wheat flour, use 3/4 cup whole wheat and 3/4 cup regular all-purpose flour.
• Speaking of healthy food for our kids, I'm totally psyched for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, in which Jamie is going to try to change the eating habits of an entire American town. Jamie is a real evangelist for natural, healthy food, and totally gets that how we eat is inextricably linked with how we treat the planet. As a former first grade teacher, I was appalled but not surprised to see the clip below.

So watch and then go round-up some fresh food for your little ones.